Chapter 24
by AKlimesh
Summary: A school assignment. Please read!


**This was a school assignment. I actually made two, because I couldn't decide which one I like better, so I just handed them both in. I'll just post both of them. Enjoy, but don't copy. I think I finally decided that this first one is my favorite one, even though it is shorter. **

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Allison

Mrs. Jansen

Reading

3/3/09

****

Chapter 24

"JONAS. JONAS. Jonas. Jonas." The Community chanted. It was loud at first, then grew quieter. The Giver himself had started the chant. They had noticed Jonas's absence on the second day of The Ceremony. A week later, when the search planes turned up nothing, the Counsel of Elders had asked him to perform the ceremony. The Chief Elder had wondered off stage by now, and was discussing something frantically with the Counsel of Elders.

They were frightened, of course, by Jonas's 'death'. They knew that they would no longer be able to keep their 'perfect' world in all its sameness. The moment was almost upon him. Soon they would all know the truth. The Giver felt they deserved it. For yes, they had a world without pain, but there was also no joy; no true lasting happiness. There could be no happiness without pain. _Surely,_ The Giver asked himself, _true happiness with pain is better then none?_ He knew what his own answer to the question was, but he hated having to make the choice for the whole community.

The Giver could see that some of the memories were already beginning to return; some of the members of the community were looking around in confusion and rubbing their eyes, as if wondering if they were still seeing correctly. Seeing color was an interesting experience.

"Jonas." They whispered, one last time. The Giver walked to the center of the stage, and began to address the people. The Counsel of Elders had given him permission beforehand, knowing that it was inevitable, but he glanced in their direction anyway. The Chief Elder reluctantly nodded.

"Jonas's death will be difficult for the community, even more difficult then our failure eleven years ago." The Giver began. The crowd whispered in confusion. He rolled his eyes as he realized what they were getting at.

"Death is the same thing as Loss." He explained. This was going to be a lot harder then he had originally thought. "Jonas's loss will be difficult," He restated, "but I will be here to help your through it." He paused only for a moment as he remembered the loss of his daughter. "We will be going through many changes, and you will have to be brave. Yes," he continued a hint of irony in his voice as he looked the Chief Elder in the eye, "It will require intelligence, integrity, and courage." The community still looked confused.

"The purpose of the New Receiver is to take from me the memories of the past. They are memories of pain, happiness, joy, sorrow, and love. The Receiver is created to bear these painful memories so that the community doesn't have to. It is a lot to bear on your own. Jonas's memories remain with us, and as they return, we are going to bear them together." He glanced into the crowd, hoping for a sign of encouragement, but he could only see bewildered faces.

"How do I explain?" The Giver questioned himself. "I suppose no one knows what a memory is?" Thousands of people shook their heads in response. "I thought not." He said.

"Well then," he continued, an idea forming in his head. "close you eyes." They did as they were told, and The Giver took deep breaths to prepare himself for what he was about to do. He had no idea if it would work.

"I am going to give you a memory" The Giver began, "of music." He reached deep into his conciseness, and pulled out the familiar memory. Concentrating hard, he projected it, sending it into the minds of all the members of the community. He could feel it leaving him as he listened to the melody one last time.

He heard the music one last time in his head before the memory disappeared. He heard people singing.

In front of him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he knew through the memory to be Elsewhere, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.

* * *

Allison

Mrs. Jansen

Reading

3/3/09

**Chapter 24**

The Giver woke with a very strong sense of worry. He knew worry from the memories of course. Those he had kept for himself, as not to burden Jonas. He was worrying about Jonas. He picked through his breakfast, not really eating it. He just pondered the food, wondering if he should have sent more with Jonas. He had given memories of hunger to Jonas, and a few to Rosemary, but he knew that Jonas had only experienced hunger in the memories. Actually finding food to do something about the hunger would be another story. He wished that the plan they had so carefully devised would have worked, but he was never able to request the car and driver from the speaker; Jonas never showed up at his dwelling. He hoped that he had still made it out of the community though. He supposed that he would already know if Jonas had been caught. There would have been an announcement a little like A REMINDER TO ALL CITIZENS, BEING OUTSIDE AFTER HOURS IS DISCOURAGED. He walked to the auditorium numbly, with all of the elders who knew nothing.

He glimpsed Jonas's parents, and hid himself from their view by merging into the crowd of the elderly that were emerging from the House of the Old. He would have to be extra careful to stay away from them, until he announced to the crowd that Jonas was missing. He took his seat among the Counsel of Elders quietly. They chatted quietly, unsuspecting. Jonas had escaped without notice. The Giver had never doubted that he would. He _was_ nervous about what Jonas would do now; if he would make it any farther. He didn't know what lied in Elsewhere, and hoped that Jonas would succeed. The crowed quieted as The Chief Elder filed in last.

She walked calmly onto the stage, and began. She named the first newchild, a female, and her family unit was announced. The couple came foreword to collect the newchild. It was their first child, and he supposed they grinned with what they thought was pride. The Giver knew better though. They couldn't know pride like he could. They couldn't because they didn't have the memories. Soon that would all change.

The nurtures all filed on stage eventually, and the newchildren were all given families. The Giver could hear the voice of the Chief Elder drone on, but he ignored it. She rattled on unimportantly, talking about the responsibilities of the new parents. He found it incredibly hard to concentrate on her voice as she called up the new two's. He concentrated instead on his favorite memory: music. He dug the memory foreword, using it to relax himself. He wished that he would have given it to Jonas, despite Jonas's refusal to take it from him. The soothing memory of the simple melody surly would have eased Jonas's own worries somewhat.

Then the memory ended, and he was pulled to reality be the shriek of one of the newchildren. He tried to concentrate on his part of the plan instead. He glanced at Jonas's parents, who were whispering to each other anxiously. At any other ceremony, their talking would have been discouraged, but since it was only the ceremony of the ones, many of whom were crying and wailing themselves, it was allowed. Their eyes swept the crowd, and as they passed over him, they could tell that they realized that Jonas wasn't with him. It wouldn't be much longer till they realized that he wasn't here. The Giver had hoped for more time.

Then the Ceremony of the Ones, ended. Soon after that, the twos, then the threes. The Giver strode outside to eat his meal. He heard the familiar voice of the speaker: A REMINDER TO ALL CITIZENS THAT ATTENDANCE TO THE CEREMONY IS MANDATORY.

Of course, it was mandatory for everyone but himself, but that wasn't the point. They had noticed now. The crowd around him seemingly took no notice of the announcement, it was rude to gossip about who was missing, but eyes roamed everywhere. The Giver knew that they were searching for a missing face. He tried to act as they did, as if he had know idea who was missing. He let his eyes roam too, searching for a face that he knew he wouldn't find.

He decided to take a walk, hoping that it looked natural. He walked along the river, trying to get the colors to appear to him once more. He concentrated hard on green, but the trees, shrubs, and grass remained varying shades of gray. He could see the bicycle that The Giver himself had planted on the edge of the river, but it too stayed gray. He wondered if they would notice that the name plate had been removed. He made a loop around the community, and watched as the pilots prepared their planes, and left. He knew that they were flying search planes, and he knew who they were searching for.

Eventually, he completed his circuit, and reentered the auditorium. The community looked shocked at his late entrance, but no one commented. To give them their credit, the whispering didn't start till he continued on, up the steps to the stage, right in the middle of the Chief Elders speech to the fives. Their shocked faces were what reminded him to speak the simple phrase,

"I apologize for interrupting." He began hastily.

"We accept your apology." They replied quickly. The Giver knew that they didn't really have a choice.

"Jonas, the Receiver-in-training has been lost to the river." They stared at him blankly. "I myself discovered this." He added. They wouldn't question him, he knew. The Chief Elder had wondered off stage by now, and was discussing something frantically with the Counsel of Elders. The moment was almost upon him. Soon they would know the truth. The Giver could see that some of the memories were already beginning to return; some of the members of the community were looking around in confusion and rubbing their eyes, as if wondering if they were still seeing correctly.

"Jonas's death will be difficult for the community, even more difficult then our failure eleven years ago." The Giver stated. The crowd whispered in confusion. He knew what they were getting at.

"Death is the same thing as Loss." He explained. "Jonas's loss will be difficult, but I will be here to help your through it." He paused only for a moment as he remembered the loss of his daughter. "We will be going through many changes, and you will have to be brave. Yes," he continued, a hint of irony in his voice as he looked the Chief Elder in the eye, "It will require intelligence, integrity, and courage." The community still looked confused.

"How do I explain?" The Giver questioned himself. "I suppose no one knows what a memory is?" Thousands of people shook their heads in response. "I thought not." He said.

"Well then," he continued, an idea forming in his head. "close you eyes." They did as they were told, and The Giver took deep breaths to prepare himself for what he was about to do. He had no idea if it would work.

"I am going to give you a memory-" The Giver began, "of music." He reached deep into his cousesness, and pulled out the familiar memory. Concentrating hard, he projected it, sending it into the minds of the members of the community.

He heard the music one last time in his head before the memory disappeared. He heard people singing.

In front of him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he knew through the memory to be Elsewhere, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.

* * *

**I hoped you liked it. Writing the second one felt sort of awkward because she didn't really go into detail about how that would work, and I just sorta winged it. Either way, I got full credit so I don't care. Thanks for reading!**


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